Sunday, August 24, 2014

Glade has a meeting today with the two families he home teaches.  They are both taking the temple preparation classes.  Then we'll go to stake choir practice at 5:00

Here are a few pictures from the dinner last night.  And just a side note, the event was scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.  At 7:00 p.m. all of the North American couples were there and the food was being brought to the serving table.  We started with the fruit from the appetizer table; but it would be an hour before the meal started as people slowly trickled in--coming to the table on typical Latin time :)  It was a beautiful evening and they treated us all so well.  We are so very grateful for their love and kindness!

From the appetizer table

More appetizers.  The plate on the right included a few wafers, a chips mix, and those cute little square cookies topped with pink, white, and purple marshmallows.
They are not big on desserts or sweets here, but the fruit was delicious.

A table setting.  Each had two pots with live flower plants although this one only shows one plant.
They gave us each one to take home at the end of the evening.
In the center are the Caziers and Cruzs are on the right.

President and Sister Ocampo--Temple President and Matron

Brother and Sister Cruz whose assignment as temple missionaries is to oversee the Guesthouse and supervise the groups that come here to stay overnight.  They have a huge job and have done it beautifully.  They do get to work in the temple on Wednesday afternoons.

Pres. and Sister Cazier who leave for their home in Florida this Saturday, August 30.

Brother and Sister Bassett who leave for their home in Lovell, Wyoming, next week on September 4.

This super sweet lady, Sister Lagos, used to be in our ward, but she moved a few months ago.  I still see her in the temple and recently she has been coming as a worker.  She will soon be moving to Florida for the first time.

Brother and Sister Starkey who will leave for their home in Kaysville, UT, just before the temple maintenance closing at the end of October.  They already have their next mission call to Guatemala and will begin serving there in January 2015.

We didn't get a picture of us on our camera last night, so here we are after church this morning

Standing next to Glade's "pineapple tree"!

After the meal, a group of leaders formed a semi-circle and each missionary couple walked from one end to the and exchanged greetings.  The sister in the front foreground is our Primary President and her little daughter.  From the left are a couple in the stake presidency, President and Sister Fortuna--Mission President of the Comaguela Mission and a member of our ward--we don't kow the young couple in the center, and the last couple are Bishop and Sister Smart.  We were in the same ward before the division and he was made the bishop of the new ward.

In the center are our bishop and his wife, Bishop and Gina Sierra.
The Bassetts are on the right making their way around the group.

Pres. and Sister Amado, tenple presidency counselor and his wife, are in the center;
 and Brother and Sister Duarte, temple workers,  are on the right.

Someone with a nice camera was invited to come and take pictures, and he picked up my phone and took this wide view.

These sisters served our dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, and a roll.  It was delicious!
And they gave Glade and I each an extra plate to take home for Sunday dinner.

The lady in the center in the blue blouse is the stake choir director, Sister Valledares.
Her husband, Ricardo Valladares the area authority seventy, is Glade's home teaching companion.
Bless the server's hearts, they even wore hair nets and looked like official cooks.

Bishop and Sister Sierra.  This is Gina, the sister who plays the viola.  We played in the recital together.
Her parents are the temple president and his wife and their children and Rebbecca, Raquel, Moroni and Nephi.

This is our first bishop and his wife, Brother and Sister Matutue.
He is now serving as a counselor in the stake presidency.

Each of the missionary couples was presented with a framed, hand-stitched picture of our temple.
Sister Barrientos, who serves as a temple worker but is not in our ward or stake, stitched them,
and then they were framed.  These will be treasured mementos from our missionary experience.

This is the potted dianthus I got to bring home.